Bedside Manner
by aku-md
Summary: Eriol checks up on a depressed Daidouji heiress. Though words were flung at him, he remained calm. Calm enough to be hiding something?


Disclaimer: I don't own CCS

**BEDSIDE MANNER**

The intercom on Tomoyo's bedside buzzed for the fifth time since morning. "Tomoyo-sama, there's a phone call for you. It's Sakura-san." It was Fumika, Tomoyo's personal maid.

Tomoyo's hand crept from the blanket and pushed the talk button. _Tell her I'm not in the mood. _"Tell her I'm not feeling well."

"But this is the fourth time she called today, she says it's important."

Tomoyo clenched a fist and sighed. "Fine, fine. Let's get this over with," she annoyingly muttered to herself and reached for the cordless phone beside the intercom.

She cleared her throat first to get rid of telltale signs of crying. "Hai, Sakura-chan." Trying to sound her normal cheerful self was getting harder and harder everyday.

"Tomoyo-chan, I was getting worried about you. Is something wrong?" Her cousin asked on the other line.

The heiress rolled on her back. _Still as dense as ever aren't you, cousin?_ "Ie, I just got a lot of things on my mind."

"We barely see you after school, Tomoyo-chan. And it's been weeks since we went out together. We miss you already." Card mistress sweetly told her best friend.

Tomoyo's brows knit together. "Like I said, I've been busy," was her curt answer.

"Um, so what have you been up to since the start of the year?"

"Practice with the choir and other stuff."

Sakura paused and finally noticed her friend's terseness. "Are you sure you're all right? You don't sound—"

"Sakura-chan, can you call some other time? 'Kaasan asked me to do some things for her and I need to finish them all by tonight." She lied. How could she tell her closest friend that she can't stand talking to her anymore?

"O- okay. I'll check up on you tomorrow then."

Tomoyo quickly spoke, "That'll be great. Bye!" and turned the phone off. She took the pillow above her head and used it to muffle her scream. She kept yelling until her throat hurt. Since Syaoran-kun became Sakura's boyfriend, she had been feeling left out. It used to be just the two of them or with Rika, Chiharu and Naoko. But when they stepped into high school, teenage hormones continued to rage. Acquaintances turned to crushes, crushes became boyfriends or girlfriends but Tomoyo remained feeling abandoned like an unwanted toy. Seeing her friends with their respective loved ones made her realize that the inevitable is unavoidable. Now, high school for her is a sick den of lovey-dovey couples that had nothing better to do than grope each other.

She had been woken up by Fumika's knock on her door. "Tomoyo-sama, there's someone here to see you."

N_ow what?_

She groggily raised her head to check the time: 6:22 pm. Tomoyo realized she fell asleep after Sakura called.

The rapping on her door continued. If she ignored it long enough, whoever that someone is would soon give up and assume she's still asleep. When the hushed voices outside her door stopped she sighed in relief. She can now resume her sulking, regardless of how pathetic it sounds. Then her door opened. Tomoyo averted her eyes to it and saw Eriol Hiiragizawa standing at her doorstep with an infuriatingly cheerful smile.

"I should've known. Fumika-san would never let anyone inside my room without my permission." The heiress bluntly deduced. _Obviously, he tricked her into thinking I answered yes and she let him in. _

"Excellent deduction, Tomoyo-san." Eriol said. He found her in that big four-poster bed half-buried under what looked like almost a dozen pillows and a thick quilt. _Sakura-chan was right. There is something wrong with Tomoyo-san_, he thought and he could definitely feel the pain emanating from her.

Tomoyo realized what he had just done. "I'm not in the mood for mind games, Hiiragizawa." Dropping the –san after his name. Naturally she was not feeling very respectful to anyone that time. "So just go get lost." She hid herself under the covers. "You're wasting your time here."

The sorcerer was still in good spirits despite the rude reception. "Tomoyo-san, that's not the proper way to greet a guest especially when he brought cake with him." He went to her entertainment area and put the box of cake on the coffee table. Confidently, he thought that Tomoyo would eat the cake when she feels better though uncertain when that would be. Well, he was about to find out.

Tomoyo was starting to get livid with the sudden intrusion of privacy that she threatened, "Leave me alone and take your cake with you before I shove it up your butt."

She heard him playfully say, "Wow, that sounds uncomfortable." Then felt the right side of her bed sink. _Now he had the audacity to be comfy without my permission!_ It was a tempting idea to peek and check what this impudent magician was up to but decided against it.

Irritation was getting the best of her. "What do you want?" The angered voice was barely audible under the bedspread.

"What's wrong with visiting a friend?"

"Now that's a load of bull. Since when have we been friends, Hiiragizawa? If it weren't for Sakura being the new mistress of your precious cards, I wouldn't have known you ever existed." Tomoyo snapped.

Eriol was taken aback. This is definitely a side of Tomoyo that he has never seen before. It was his first glimpse of fire under that calm, prim and proper exterior of hers. He laid down beside her and used his hands as a substitute pillow for his head. "You must be really upset if you've resorted to mild cursing."

"Just shut up, Hiiragizawa. This is my house, my room and my bed. I have every right to say whatever I want! What's it to you anyway? We've never been close. So why should you care if I'm upset or not?"

Eriol told her, "I do care, Tomoyo-san. I always have and I wanted to be your friend for so long I've lost track but you were too occupied with nursing the pain inside your heart. You've shut out anybody who would like to get close to you and chose to isolate yourself instead."

"You've been talking with Sakura, haven't you?"

Busted. "True but I have eyes too and I see how you slowly lose your spirit. Your thirst for knowledge and music, you don't have it anymore. You're losing your interest in life, Tomoyo-san. Sakura-chan and the others are worried about you that's why she called me. At first I wasn't sure it would work because, like you said earlier, we're not close but for some reason she was certain you'd talk to me."

He could hear her soft hiccups and sniffs under the sheets. Eriol gently uncovered her face and saw her eyes drenched with tears, looking like amethysts soaked in water. They both reached out for each other's hand. Tomoyo gripped his so tight as if he was her last chance for survival.

Her voice trembled as she spoke. "I- I'm losing them, Eriol." Tears kept streaming down. "I've never felt so alone. They've been my friends since I could remember but when we got to high school I feel like I don't belong anymore. It's—it's as if they have a completely different world from mine. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for them they found the one they love but I just—" and hiccupped again, "just feel so left out that I don't know where to place myself when I'm with them."

"You're not alone, Tomoyo. You never were. You just weren't looking at the right place that's why you feel so secluded."

"I don't want to be alone anymore, Eriol," she whispered.

"You're not," he assured the weeping girl, brushing away the strands of hair that fell on her face. "You have me, Tomoyo."

Tomoyo laughed for the first time that day. She felt better trusting the security he was offering to her. Her arms went around Eriol and buried her face against his chest. "You make it sound like I own you."

"Well, there's my heart, among other things," Eriol simply said while stroking her hair.

"You're not supposed to say things like that."

"All right then, how about I'm in love you?"

Her breath got stuck in her throat. "That's not funny, Eriol?"

"Not at the very least," Eriol answered confidently.

"Okay, now stop fooling round."

"I'm not."

She pulled away to look at him. He looked serious enough to warrant a bold declaration, like the one she heard thirty seconds ago. But she found herself getting annoyed with Eriol again. Syaoran was right he is a manipulative bastard. "Is this one of your sick jokes?"

"Who said anything about jokes, Tomoyo?"

"What's this about?" She climbed out of the bed to get away from him. "First you say you want to be my friend then next thing I know you're saying you're in love with me. What are you doing?"

Eriol explained and got out of her bed as well. "I'm saying that I want to be there for you as a friend and at the same time, I'm in love with you. I am capable of doing both."

"What?" The frustration was making her lose her temper. "Will you stop oversimplifying it?"

Eriol gave a pleased laugh. The fiery Tomoyo was back. Now he had a hard time determining which one he liked best, this Tomoyo or the gentle one? The sorcerer decided he liked them both. Then reminded himself to thank Sakura-chan later for sending him as her emissary. Eriol casually approached her, "There's really nothing to complicate here, my dear. I've been ridiculously in love with you for years I just can't find the right time to get to it since you've been stuck in your own little world until now."

Tomoyo was puzzled. "I—I don't understand, how did this happen? You're involved with Mizuki-sensei."

Eriol was shocked, "Kaho-san? She's old enough to be my mother. Well, young mother that is. She is an ally, to assist and clear the path for Sakura-chan." Tomoyo was silent, still digesting the new information. He was utterly amused with the recent turn of events. "Besides, I'm not into older women as Touya-san was."

The heiress was caught-off guard. _Of course he knows. Mizuki-sensei must have told him. _Before Tomoyo realized it, Eriol was already right in front of her. Just as she was to avoid him again, he quickly grabbed her wrists. "You're not going anywhere this time," he said.

"I'm not but you are."

Eriol whispered calmly, "In a while, but we have some things to settle first."

"Such as?"

"Such as getting used to me hovering around you from now on and becoming accustomed to the fact that I really do love you."

"This is insane." She muttered. The confusion was making her dizzy. Since she had known Eriol, they never had a conversation that lasted longer than five minutes and didn't involve lectures, homework or borrowing pens. Yet now he tells her he's been attracted to her since, oh, maybe elementary? The world has gone upside down for the bewildered girl.

Eriol chuckled, "Tomoyo, I've been hearing nothing but obtuse phrases from you for the last five minutes." He tucked behind her ear a lost wisp of wavy hair that lay softly against her cheek.

"Well I wouldn't be this baffled if I understood what this charade is all about," she sharply countered.

The sorcerer shook his head and exhaled, "Tomoyo, Tomoyo, Tomoyo," his dark blue eyes pierced directly into her violet ones as though hypnotizing her into submission. He was gently pulling her closer until he could wrap his arm around her waist. "What do I have to do to make you believe me?"

"Actually, nothing. But leaving would be nice." Though her voice was sweet, the suggestion was as cold as ice.

"Too bad for you that's not an option," he murmured huskily before bending down to Tomoyo.

Tomoyo automatically panicked and squirmed in protest. "Stop it right now, Hii—"

Too late. Her lips were already sealed against his and Tomoyo froze because of shock. Possibility of any coherent thought entering her mind was prevented just as her mouth was obstructed from breathing by Eriol's. With gentle probing and rubbing, his mouth was doing wonderful things to her lips and tongue.

It was longer than expected before he released her.

Tomoyo's mind was still blank and her eyes remained hazy.

Eriol seemed unaffected but he was satisfied with the results. _It certainly gave her something to think about._ "See you tomorrow in school," he told Tomoyo, kissed her on the forehead and left.

Right after he shut the door behind him, Tomoyo took a seat at the edge of her bed unable to blink yet. When she released a shaky breath, everything that happened since Eriol came to her house and in her room flashed before her eyes. The heiress flung herself back on the bed. She reached for any pillow closest to her and placed it on her face. A disoriented Tomoyo screamed at it like she has never screamed before.

To be continued


End file.
